The Michelin guide (illustration) -

ALLILI MOURAD / SIPA

  • This year, the 2021 Michelin Guide is coming out after restaurants have been closed for several months, due to health measures to fight against Covid-19.

  • What are these distinctions for, when the tables are closed?

    How to promote them?

    “20 Minutes” asked the three neo-star hotels in Montpellier.

  • For everyone, these stars are a real "motivation" to consider the future.

    And if it is not yet possible to promote them in their reservation books, the take-out or delivery offer can be a way of continuing to show their know-how.

It's an event: three restaurants in Montpellier (Hérault) won their first star in the Michelin Guide on Monday: Reflet d'Obione, Pastis and Leclere.

Rarely has the capital of Hérault experienced such a shower of stars.

No pot, these consecrations fell while sanitary measures to fight against Covid-19 have forced restaurants to close their doors.

How, in this harsh period, can we promote these prized distinctions?

And what are they for? 

20 Minutes

asked the three neo-star hotels in Montpellier.

"Help to have serenity"

Guillaume Leclere, chef of the table that bears his name, which offers “sincere and frank” arrival cuisine, is delighted with this Michelin award.

And in these complicated times, it is even a driving force for this former Marc Veyrat cook.

“We all know a somewhat uncertain future, it is clear that this star will help us to have peace of mind, and to find our customers, confides the boss of Leclere.

With the major periods of closure that we have been experiencing since last year, there are a lot of questions that are taking hold.

We don't ask ourselves how we are going to restart, are we right, should we continue as we are doing?

It is clear that with this star, the answers, we have them.

"

"This star, we will only really value it when we reopen"

So yes, the chef would have liked, as is usually the case, to see sitting at his table, "the next day or two," curious people who have discovered his address in the guide.

“But we adapt,” he smiles.

This is the key word of this period.

This will accompany us over several years.

We will savor differently than the winners of other years, that's for sure.

But the customers will be there, they are patient.

"

"This star, it boosts, it re-motivates, with a view to the reopening," resumes Daniel Lutrand, the chef of Pastis.

But its impact will undoubtedly only be delayed in time.

"We will only really value this star when we reopen it", confirms Laurent Cherchi, chef and owner of Reflet d'Obione, which has been offering refined cuisine for two years, inspired by local products.

"Let's say that the star gives us more visibility", continues the Montpellier.

Daniel Lutrand (right) and Jean-Philippe Vivant took over Pastis in 2012. - N. Bonzom / Maxele Presse / 20 Minutes

"To think that there is a glimmer of hope"

This year, these somewhat singular stars, if they have not yet made it possible to attract crowds to restaurants, have thus been a vector of motivation for restaurateurs.

"For chefs, the guide is very important," says Mariem El Euch Maalej, teacher and researcher at Paris School of Business, specialist in haute cuisine.

It is a landmark in the sector.

"And, she notes, not to release the 2021 edition, and deprive the chefs of such recognition because the restaurants are closed," would have been too hard to bear.

“It's a way of encouraging chefs, of telling themselves that there is a glimmer of hope.

To show that they have been able to persevere, to continue to strive for excellence despite a difficult context.

It also helps inspire the younger generations.

To move forward, to overcome what has been difficult this year, to continue to reinvent yourself.

"

Take-out or delivery offers, pending reopening

And reinventing oneself means offering, for some, take-out or delivery meals.

This is the case at Reflet d'Obione, whose chef hopes that the curious, intrigued by his first star, flock to order gourmet take-out menus, while waiting for him to be able to serve customers again in his restaurant.

Our file on the Michelin Guide

For Mariem El Euch Maalej, the take-out and delivery offer allows chefs, despite the crisis, to continue to show their know-how.

And, why not, to promote their star.

Even if "it requires a real reflection, an adaptation for the dishes, we cannot deliver everything", notes the researcher.

It also invites the guide to create a distinction, to reward take-out or delivery offers launched by restaurants.

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  • Languedoc-Roussillon

  • Covid 19

  • Restaurant

  • Michelin Guide

  • Coronavirus

  • Montpellier

  • Gastronomy